Variable speed gearing



Nov. 21, 1939. uF. FA RUAU `VARIABLE SPEED @Emme 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NOV. 50, 1936 VARIABLE SPEED GEAR ING Filed Nov. 30, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 21, 1939.A F. F. RUAU 2,180,481

VARIABLE SPEED GEAR ING Filed NOV. 30, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Nov. 21, 1939 UNITED srATss orifice 2,180,431 IVARIABLE SPEED GEARING Flix Frdcric Ruau, Deptford, London, England, assigner to- Molins Machine Company, Limited,

Deptford, London, England 1 Claim.

This invention is for improvements in or relating to variable speed gearing for cigarette machines.

kAccording to the present invention there is provided in an automatic cigarette making machine having driving mechanism to drive various moving parts of said machine, said moving parts including aconveyor or other device, the provision of a variable speed gear interposed between theconveyor or other device and the driving mechanism, said gear being capable of adjustment within fine limits whilst the machine is in operation to produce small differences in the speed of the conveyor or other device relatively to the speed of the driving mechanism andto the speed `of the remaining moving parts of the machine driven by said driving mechanism.

The variable speed gear may comprise an expanding pulley, a part at least of the periphery of which is formed by an element arranged for movement towards and away from the axis of rotation of the pulley, means connected with said element to eiect movement of the element rela; tively to the axis of rotation of the pulley, and an operating member movable lengthwise of the axis of rotation of the pulley to operate sai-d means.

The element may be pivotally mounted on a support attached to a rotatable shaft, said element being resiliently urged towards the centre of rotation and controlled by link mechanism connected with a sliding member arranged to slide in a direction parallel with the axis of rotation of the pulley and operated by an adjusting member. The rotatable shaft may comprise a hollow shaft and the operating member (e. g., a link) may extend through the hollow portion of the shaft, one end of the operating member being connected with a sliding member, the other end .of the operating member being connected with the adjusting member, The adjusting member may comprise a pivotally mounted bell crank lever, one end of which is forked and connected with said link. The adjusting member may be provided with a micrometer adjusting means.

The invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine for making mouthpiece cigarettes and illustrates diagrammatically the application of the invention to such machine.

Figure 2 is a section on theline 2 2 Figure l. Figure 3 shows a part of Figure 1 ldrawn to an enlarged scale. l

Figure 4 is a side elevation of Figure 3.

- making machine vary from time to time.

of suction band 9 and conveyor 6 in order to cor- Like references refer to like parts throughout the specification and drawings. l

The machine shown in Figure l of the draw# ings is of the kind described in United States Patent No. 2,156,600 and in British patent specifications Nos. 430,742, 430,817 and 430,8l8vfor making mouthpiece cigarettes by uniting axially moving stubs and cigarettes. In such machines it is sometimes found difcult to ensure that the cigarettes and stubs will be in proper endwise abutting relationship (that is, when it is desired to have the cigarettes and stubs abutting) owing to the fact that due to various reasons the lengths of the cigarettes and stubs are apt to be different by very minute amounts.

In machines such as those shown in the specications above referred to, cigarette rod lengths, each of which is double the length required in the finished cigarette, are fed from a magazine 5 and are deposited on to the surface of a core feeding conveyor comprising an endless band 6, the successive cigarette rod lengths being spaced apart from eachl other in an axial direction. In the Spaces between the successive cigarettes double length stub portions are fed from a magazine l, and the core formed by the line of alternate cigarette rod lengths'andstub lengths is moved by the conveyor 6 to timing mechanism shown generally at 8, which timing mechanism is arranged to engage the rear faces o the cigarette rod lengths or the stub lengths to locate the cigarette and stub lengths relatively to the wrapping material which is fed to the cigarette and stub lengths by a suction band 9 which runs at a constant speed. The cigarette and stub lengths together with the wrapping material are then delivered on to the surface of a further conveyor Ill, which latter conveyor moves the composite core together with the wrapping material through folding mechanism Il operative to fold the Wrapping material about the cigarette rod lengths and stub lengths comprising the composite core to unite the lengths.

The suction band 9 and conveyor l0 are moved at a slower speed than that at which the conveyor E is moving in order that the cigarette lengths and stub lengths which are spaced apart on the conveyor 6 may be closed up in an axial direction. As stated above, it is frequently found that the materials fed to the mouthpiece cigarette When such is the case it is found to be desirable to alter the speed of the conveyor Ill relative to the speeds From Figure 1 it will be seen that the suction band 9 and conveyors 5 and lil are driven from a source of motive power shown in the drawings as an electric motor i2, the shaft of the motor l2 being connected with a stub shaft I3, the stub shaft i3 being connected by means of gear wheels iii and l5 to the main shaft i6 of the mouthpiece cigarette making machine. The suction band 9 and conveyors t and lll respectively are each driven directly from the main shaft I6, the conveyor t being driven through the medium of gear wheels il', i8, i9 and 2t, whilst the conveyor iii is driven by gear wheels 2l and 22. The suction band S is driven through the medium of gear wheels 5d, 5i, 52 and tt, the lineal speed of the suction band being the same as the normal speed of the conveyor iii. The details ofthe driving mechanism for the conveyor 6 and suction band y il are fully described andv illustrated in United States Fatent No. 2,156,600, as are also the details of the mechanism for driving conveyor except for the improvement thereon embodied in the present invention. Between the conveyor is and the driving mechanism therefor there is interposed a variable speed gear shown in the drawings as an expanding pulley 23. The pulley 23 is to be expanded or contracted whilst the machine is in operation so that small differences may be made to the speed of the conveyor l@ to adjust the speed of the conveyor l@ relatively to that of the conveyor and also to that of the mechanism which drives the conveyor ifi. The expanding pulley 2? is shown more clearly in Figures 2, 3 and 4, and comprises a support in the form of a disc the disc 2li' being fixed to a rotatable shaft 25 mounted in bearings 25 and 2i'. To the disc 25; there is connected a plurality of segmental elements 28 which are arranged so that the end of one element overlaps the end of the next in the manner shown in Figure 3. By this arrangement the segmental elements 28 comprise the periphery of the expanded pulley. The segmental elements 2S connected with links i255 are pivoted at 29 to the disc 2d, and springs 39 (see Figure 3) urge the segmental elements 23 towards the axis of rotation of the pulley, and maintain the segments in the overlapping formation shown inFigure 3.

A link 3i is pivoted at one end to a slidable member which is arranged to slide on the boss 33 by which the disc 2li is secured to the shaft 25 while the free end of the link 3l abuts against that end of the link 29 which is connected with the element 28. The slidable member 32 is arranged to slide in a direction which is parallel to the axis of rotation of the pulley, i. e., the axis of rotation of the shaft 25.

The shaft 255, to which the disc 24 is secured, is a hollow shaft, and an operating member shown as a rod 31% is arranged to be coaxial with and to extend through the shaft, one end of the rod being connected with the slidable member 32 by a connecting piece 35 (see Figure 2). The other end of the rod 3i? is provided with a collar 36 which is fixed to the rod 3d.

` The rod 34 is operated by an adjusting member shown as a bell crank lever 37 pivoted at 38 to a bracket 39 xed to the bed of the machine. As will be seen from Figure 2, one end of the bell crank lever 3l' is forked and engages with the collar 35. The other end of the bell crank lever forms an operating lever by means of which the segmental elements 28 forming the .periphery of the expanding pulley are adjusted.

The operating lever is controlled by a micrometer adjustment formed by two oppositely disposed screws lil and ll arranged to engage with the operating lever of the bell crank lever 31.

By adjusting the screws 4G and 4I, the bell crank lever 37 is pivoted at 38, and the rod 34 is thereby moved axially in the shaft 25, thus causing the slidable member 32 to slide on the boss 33 and the segmental elements 28 to be moved towards or away from the axis of rotation of the expanding pulley, thereby adjusting the diameter of the pulley and consequently the speed at which the conveyor I0 is moved. It will be appreciated that by means of the micrometer adjustment obtained through the screws lll and 4I minute adjustments of the expanding pulley may be eiected whilst the speed of the driving mechanism remains constant. AThe arrangement is such that the adjustments may be made whilst the machine is in operation, and this fact enables the machine operator to vary the speed of the conveyor it relatively to the driving mechanism, because as will be appreciated from the foregoing description, whilst the pulley 23 is rotated at a constant speed by the gearing 2i and 22 the surface speed of the conveyor IB is varied, due to the increasing or decreasing diameter of the pulley.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a machine for manufacturing mouthpiece cigarettes, the combination of a core feeding conveyor comprising an endless band to feed an axially moving core of axially aligned cigarettes and mouthpieces, mechanism for feeding short lengths or" wrapping materialA to adjacent elements in said core, a slower moving endless band conveyor to continue the axial movement of the axially aligned cigarettes and mouthpieces together with the short lengths of wrapping material, said last named conveyor moving at a slower linear speed than the said lcore feeding conveyor, driving mechanism for 'such slower moving conveyor, a variable speed gear interposed between the slower moving endless band conveyor and the driving mechanism therefor, and means for adjusting the transmission ratio of said variable speed gear within iine limits while the machine is in operation to produce small differences in the speed of the said slower moving endless band conveyor relatively to the core feeding conveyor and to the mechanism for feeding the short lengths of wrapping material whereby compensation for minute variations in the lengths of elements in the core may be effected.

FLIX FRDERIC RUAU. 

